Jesse Tyler Ferguson Stood in for Another One of Sarah Hyland's 'Modern Family' Co-Stars as Wedding Officiant
Jesse Tyler Ferguson served as the officiant in Sarah Hyland's wedding, but it turns out another one of their Modern Family co-stars was initially supposed to have the role. "I don't know if people know this, but Ty Burrell was meant to do it, and there was a family emergency," Ferguson told Entertainment Tonight. "So, I got a phone call 12 days before the wedding, and that's why Ty wasn't there, he had stuff going on."
Ferguson also explained that all of the cast was invited, even if all of them couldn't attend. "Everyone was invited and not everyone could make it," he said, "but I had 12 days, and I was like, 'Well, no pressure, this is my first time, and then it's going to be a wedding, and it's going to be in Vogue magazine, and there's also going to be paparazzi shots of me from a helicopter, officiating, no pressure.'" Ferguson went on to say, "But I did call Ty, 'Like what are some of your bullet points that you were going to talk about, because I need to fast track this.'"
The actor continued, "He hadn't written anything up, but he had some ideas, and I was like, 'Oh, this is all really good. This is a jumping-off place.' I was honored to do it. Very happy to understudy Ty Burrell." Hyland, 31, married Wells Adams, 38, on August 20, 2022, at a California vineyard.
Elaborating on his preparations and planning for presiding over the nuptials, Ferguson shared, "I knew that Sarah and Wells wanted it to be a funny, lighthearted ceremony. They're not serious people, but you also don't want to lean too heavily into the jokes because it's a big day." He then recalled, "Justin — my husband — and I had Tony Kushner officiate our wedding. Pulitzer prize award-winning playwright, and he wrote this really lovely, beautiful ceremony for us, and it meant so much to me. I actually looked at that ceremony again before writing one for Sarah and Wells, so you know, heart is important."
Finally, when talking about what did not end up on social media during their unofficial Modern Family reunion, Ferguson quipped, "So many moments. You didn't see us getting drunk out of our minds on social media...which is for the best." He added, "I mean, it was so good to see everyone. I've seen almost everyone individually, so to see everyone in a group, or at least a large group of us together -- we went right into it."